Unfair social representation in military forces

Blacks account for nearly 22% of active-duty recruits in the USA army, even though they make up just 14% of the enlistment-age population. In the most casualty-prone area, the Army, black recruits are 28%. By contrast, the children of the top 15% of earners have joined at a rate one fifth of the national average. Among enlisted servicemen, only about 20% have a parent who has graduated from university.

1. America's is not a "poor-mans" military. Recruits in recent years have been roughly representative (measured by family earnings and education levels) of the enlistment-age population. In 1987, for example, about 45% of active-duty recruits came from families with above-average incomes. More than 90% of these finished secondary school, compared with 75% of all Americans. Indeed, because of the rising education standards demanded of recruits, the underclass is, in effect, excluded from military service.

1. Brutalization of military personnel

1. Lack of relationship between education and available jobs
2. Economically disadvantaged students
3. Draft evasion
4. Compulsory military service

1. Racial exploitation
2. Military elitism

1. Providing social mix in military forces

1. Unsociable
2. Unrepresentative
3. Unfairness
4. Underrepresentation
5. Misrepresentation
6. Imbalance